Why has the Environment Become a Major Issue?
We are all dependent on the natural world for our survival, wealth, identity and well-being. For thousands of years societies have lived in close, intimate connection with their natural environment. This was the case whether they were ‘hunter-gather’ societies or agrarian (farming) societies. The growth of industrial society, and cities, has meant that most of us are not living immediately within natural environments, or, if so, they are highly modified. Also, the relationship between our societies and the natural world must now be considered on a global scale. Industrial society, its systems of production, consumption and government, now operates on a scale that affects the whole planet. Industrialisation can have a substantial, adverse (negative) impact on the environment. In the 19th century governments found it necessary to regulate pollution from factories and build sewers and drainage in cities because of the damage that would otherwise occur to the environment and to public heal
